The Duchy of Warsaw existed for barely eight years, a Napoleonic creation that gave Poles a nominally autonomous state while binding them entirely to French imperial ambitions. This small copper issue was struck during the duchy's final years, as the catastrophic Russian campaign of 1812 unraveled the entire Napoleonic order in the east. By 1815 the Congress of Vienna had dissolved the duchy entirely, absorbed into the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland.
The I.B. initials denote the mint master Jan Benik, active at Warsaw through this period.
The Duchy of Warsaw existed for barely eight years, a Napoleonic creation that gave Poles a nominally autonomous state while binding them entirely to French imperial ambitions. This small copper issue was struck during the duchy's final years, as the catastrophic Russian campaign of 1812 unraveled the entire Napoleonic order in the east. By 1815 the Congress of Vienna had dissolved the duchy entirely, absorbed into the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland.
The I.B. initials denote the mint master Jan Benik, active at Warsaw through this period.